Aill Farraige GC WIP

[sandsaver01]

I have posted some WIP pix of my Rookie design effort on the under construction forum Aill Farraige; Please take a look and give feedback!

[Riotous]

I like it, wasn’t sure when you said no trees because I thought it’d look the same all the way round but it looks really good from the photos. Smooth sculpting and interesting looking greens. Nice job

[MyGolfGameSucks]

You have been quiet with your rookie wip updates but looking at your pics Im excited to play this one.... it looks good..... good luck in the comp

[sandsaver01]

Thanks to both of you my fellow Rangers   .  I appreciate your eyes on the course.  I really have not much hope of winning because I think it is hard to make a links type course using the Highland theme stand out and look unique.  I just played St. Cyrus in CC-pro - a beauty of a track that I had never seen before ( I wish I had - I could have stolen some ideas lol) and I only hope mine is close to as good as that one.

[Davidius74]

Looks great and the way the greens sit I would say this course is better than St. Cyrus (sorry Dan) I really struggled on St. Cyrus in CC-Am because of the ball almost stopping by the ball then all of a sudden hitting a slope I didn't think I reached and rolling off the green or 50ft from the hole. I counted about 35 shots over the 4 rounds that I should have been better off. Your greens and approaches don't look to have that same problem and honestly I would rate it higher.

[Oscar C]

Looking nice Mick - some quality coming from this competition for sure, good to see.

I agree Davidius74 i struggled too - the lighting was way too dark for me but on to next week i suppose.

[sandsaver01]

Aill Farraige GC has been renamed as it's English translation, Sea Cliffs Golf Club beta. The gaelic name was just too difficult to pronounce. The course is now published under the Sea cliffs name and I would appreciate anyone giving it a try and commenting on anything that could be improved in the time available until the deadline.  I will post this same thing on the Courses in progress forum for those who are not involved in the Design contests.

[cplampman]

Hey man. Gave a few holes a go today. I really enjoyed the golf side of it. Interesting greens and fairways. Few things that I’d look at. Personally instead of filling up the empty space with the shrubs, I’d think about using hills and such. It just seemed like a little much. I also thought the bunkers looked a tad unnatural on a few. Like hole 1 was clearly a standard shape and then lowered a lot. I’d just go for a little bit more of a natural look. Lastly I don’t hate the cliff, but maybe make it blend in more. Like the first par 3. How do you get to the green walking from the tee area? Feel like you could do some cool stuff with that. Maybe add big rocks around the base etc.

I’m no expert though so take it for what it’s worth. Good luck!

[b101]

I’d agree on the cliff - I like the look but it needs something at the bottom. Particularly noticeable on 7. Also, it’s a pain to sort, but it’s a bit weird that it’s all the exact same height at the top. I played pin 3 for the front nine. Liked hole one a lot - just too flat around the pin. I think the bunkers are a bit too harshly sculpted on 2. Personally, I don’t much care for 90 degree doglegs but I think it’s fine. Loved the greens on both holes - great work. I think you can do a bit more with the view off the tee on 3 - it’s a bit blind. The transitions between fairway, rough and bunker on 4 could use a little tidying up. Really liked the green site on 5. 6 was a bit off for me - I think maybe the ravine area in front of the green grabs your eye a little too much. On 8, I’d be interested as to how punitive a missed fairway off the tee is - can you reach the second part of the fairway or do you have to lay up? View off the tee on 9 is a little blocked too - hard to tell where you are aiming. This hole is also perhaps a little unfair - with the wind against, there is no hope of carrying the ravine and you have a super long shot in. Could be what you wanted though, so fine if so! Also, I’d scrap that fairway bunker on the hole in the right and extend the ravine so it crosses both holes and reaches to the cliff - would look way more natural and play better IMO.

Loads I liked here - the holes play nicely and most of my comments aren’t major things. I would look at some of the super steep bunkers and I agree that the bushes do look a little messy at times (eg 9th tee shot). Have a look at courses like The Ramparts at Harp Head or Cyrus to nick a few planting ideas. Keep it up and look forward to the finished version

[sandsaver01]

Sept 14, 2019 16:04:56 GMT -5 cplampman said:

Hey man. Gave a few holes a go today. I really enjoyed the golf side of it. Interesting greens and fairways. Few things that I’d look at. Personally instead of filling up the empty space with the shrubs, I’d think about using hills and such. It just seemed like a little much. I also thought the bunkers looked a tad unnatural on a few. Like hole 1 was clearly a standard shape and then lowered a lot. I’d just go for a little bit more of a natural look. Lastly I don’t hate the cliff, but maybe make it blend in more. Like the first par 3. How do you get to the green walking from the tee area? Feel like you could do some cool stuff with that. Maybe add big rocks around the base etc.

I’m no expert though so take it for what it’s worth. Good luck!

Thanks for the input CP.  Since this is a linksy type course, a lot of the bunkers are round, so I used shapes for them.  As for the way from the tee to the green on hole 4,  there is a walking path going off to the right of the tee and down a slope to the green. You can't see it from the tee as a player, but if you use the scout cam and elevate you can see it.  My rock-work in general is not great, so I probably won't do that, but I may try something.

[sandsaver01]

Sept 15, 2019 0:48:11 GMT -5 b101 said:

I’d agree on the cliff - I like the look but it needs something at the bottom. Particularly noticeable on 7. Also, it’s a pain to sort, but it’s a bit weird that it’s all the exact same height at the top. I played pin 3 for the front nine. Liked hole one a lot - just too flat around the pin. I think the bunkers are a bit too harshly sculpted on 2. Personally, I don’t much care for 90 degree doglegs but I think it’s fine. Loved the greens on both holes - great work. I think you can do a bit more with the view off the tee on 3 - it’s a bit blind. The transitions between fairway, rough and bunker on 4 could use a little tidying up. Really liked the green site on 5. 6 was a bit off for me - I think maybe the ravine area in front of the green grabs your eye a little too much. On 8, I’d be interested as to how punitive a missed fairway off the tee is - can you reach the second part of the fairway or do you have to lay up? View off the tee on 9 is a little blocked too - hard to tell where you are aiming. This hole is also perhaps a little unfair - with the wind against, there is no hope of carrying the ravine and you have a super long shot in. Could be what you wanted though, so fine if so! Also, I’d scrap that fairway bunker on the hole in the right and extend the ravine so it crosses both holes and reaches to the cliff - would look way more natural and play better IMO.

Loads I liked here - the holes play nicely and most of my comments aren’t major things. I would look at some of the super steep bunkers and I agree that the bushes do look a little messy at times (eg 9th tee shot). Have a look at courses like The Ramparts at Harp Head or Cyrus to nick a few planting ideas. Keep it up and look forward to the finished version

Thanks B101. I Have done the best I can to improve the sight-line from the tee on hole 3 (also hole 4 which you could not see the green) and I think I improved the rough-fwy-green transition on 4. Sorry, I like hole 6 too much to mess with it. I have tested #8 and you can reach the second fairway from the traps off the tee and from the rough with Masters clubs, maybe not with Pro. It is a par 5 so you can always lay up if you have to. You are probably right about hole 9. with a high wind against I think it would be hard to get home in two, especially for Pro clubs. I may play with it and also the ravine idea - I will have to see what it looks like. Right now 10 is risk/reward and if you fail you only have a bunker shot but with the ravine the risk would be pretty high - we shall see.

Thanks again for the ideas.